The season has ended and playoffs are underway which means the 2024 NHL Draft Lottery is just around the corner. The lottery will take place on Tuesday, May 7 at 7:00 PM EDT in Secaucus, New Jersey where the NHL Network’s studio is. Here are the odds of the five teams who finished at the bottom of the standings this last season and this year’s top five ranked draft picks (skaters only).
This year, the San Jose Sharks have the best odds of landing the number one pick with an 18.5% chance. If they win, it will be the first time they get the first overall pick in franchise history. The lowest pick they can get is third. Last year they had the fourth pick and chose Will Smith. This past season, Smith helped Boston College get to the NCAA Hockey Championship game, where they lost 2-0 to Denver University. In his regular college season, he played 41 games with 25 goals and 46 assists.
Following behind San Jose is the Chicago Blackhawks who had the second-worst record this year. They have a 13.5% chance of getting the first pick. Their most recent first pick was last year when they picked Connor Bedard. He played 68 games this last season and got 22 goals and 39 assists. The lowest pick Chicago can get is fourth.
After them is the Anaheim Ducks, with an 11.5% chance. Even though they have the same number of wins as the Blue Jackets, they also have more losses. The Ducks have had three number-two picks in their history, including last year when they picked Leo Carlsson but have never gotten a number-one pick. Carlsson played 55 games this past season and achieved 12 goals and 17 assists. The lowest pick they can get this year is fifth.
Next up is the Columbus Blue Jackets. They have a 9.5% chance of getting the first pick. No matter what, the Blue Jackets are guaranteed a top-six pick. The last and only time the Blue Jackets got a number-one pick was in 2002 when they picked their all-time stats leader Rick Nash. Last year some fans were outraged when the Blue Jacket’s draft position was accidentally leaked before a commercial break by host Kevin Weekes. The Blue Jackets had the third-worst record in the league and got the number three pick Adam Fantilli. He played 49 games last season and got 12 goals and 15 assists.
After Columbus is the Montreal Canadiens with an 8.5% chance of getting the first overall pick and can’t go lower than the seventh pick. Montreal has had six first-picks in its history including Guy Lafleur in 1971. Their last first pick was in 2022 when they picked Juraj Slafkovsky. This last season Slafkovsky played 82 games and had 20 goals and 30 assists.
Top Five Draft Pick Projections
This year the top-ranked pick is Canadian Macklin Celebrini. He’s almost sure to go first to whoever gets the pick. This past season he played for Boston University and lost in the semifinals to Denver University. He played 38 games and had 32 goals and 32 assists.
After Celebrini there is some debate on who the next top choices are. Tankathon.com lists Russian Ivan Demidov as a possible number two draft pick. This last year he played 30 games for SKA-1946 Saint Petersburg in Russia’s junior league and had 23 goals and 37 assists. He also played one game in the VHL and four in the KHL this year.
Coming in at number three is Belarusian Artyom Levshunov. Last year he played hockey for Michigan State University and lost in the semifinals to Boston College 4-0. Levshunov played 38 games and got nine goals and 26 assists.
Next up is Canadian Cayden Lindstrom. Lindstrom is one of the larger draft picks at 6’4″ and 216 lbs. He played for the Medicine Hat Tigers in the WHL last year and had 27 goals and 19 assists in 32 games.
As mentioned these rankings can be debated. Some people have Cole Eiserman as a higher pick but I have him at number five. Eiserman has committed to Boston University next year. This past year he played on the U.S. National Under-18 Team and got more than a goal a game with 52 goals and 28 assists in 51 games. He did the same while playing for the USA Hockey National Team Development Program in the United States Hockey League with 25 goals and nine assists in 24 games.
Any of these players could add some talent and depth to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Of course, there are more possible draft picks to discuss but that will be for another article. From the draft posaition to the draftee, nothing is certain but we won’t have to wait long to find out. After the Draft Lottery on May 7, the 2024 NHL Draft will be June 28-29 at the Sphere in Las Vegas.
